Where Is Marcela Borges Now? Inside the Mother’s Life 16 Years After Her Heroic Escape from Kidnappers By Caroline Blair

Marcela Borges and her family’s lives were turned upside down when they were viciously taken hostage during a home invasion.

Borges and her husband, Rubens Morais, were with their 5-year-old son, Ryan, when armed intruders invaded their Winter Garden, Fla., home in November 2009, per Fox News. Four masked gunmen blindfolded Borges, who was two months pregnant, Morais and their son and bound them.

The kidnappers proceeded to demand $200,000 from the family, but when Borges and Morais explained that they didn’t have that kind of money, they continued torturing the family of three for three days, even after she withdrew nearly $24,000 from her bank, per The Palm Beach Post.

On the third day, Borges heroically approached one of the kidnappers and tore off her mask before jumping out of a second-story window and escaping. During her attempt, she was shot by the intruders, but she was still able to alert a neighbor and get help.

More than 15 years after the terrifying home invasion, Borges’ story was adapted into the movie, Terror Comes Knocking: The Marcela Borges Story. The true-crime film, which came to Netflix in September 2025, stars Dascha Polanco as Borges, Johnathan Sousa as Morais and Alessio Andrada as Ryan.

Here’s everything to know about where Marcela Borges and her family are now, over 15 years after four armed gunmen invaded their home.

Who is Marcela Borges?

Borges was 27 years old at the time of the home invasion in November 2009. She is originally from Brazil and later moved to Winter Garden, Fla., per her Facebook. She is married to Morais, who was 48 years old at the time of the ordeal and the president of RLM Trucks Carrier, according to The Palm Beach Post.

Borges and Morais had one son named Ryan and were expecting their second child at the time. They resided in a 3,700-square-foot house in a gated community in Winter Garden.

What happened to Marcela Borges and her family?

On the morning of Nov. 15, 2009, Borges and Morais were home with Ryan when the doorbell rang and four masked gunmen — three men and one woman — approached the house. One of the perpetrators allegedly fired a gun at the door, while another grabbed Ryan and pointed a gun at him, Morais told investigators, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

The four kidnappers proceeded to ransack the house for money and expensive items while demanding that Borges and Morais open the safe. After deciding they weren’t satisfied with the amount they stole, the kidnappers blindfolded all three family members and forced them into a car to drive them to a house in Apopka, Fla.

On the second day, the armed gunmen drove them back to their home in Winter Garden and forced Borges to drive to a local bank and withdraw $23,600 in cash. After retrieving the money and giving it to the gunmen, Borges and her family still weren’t released and were pressured to get access to more funds.

“Later that night I could hear my husband crying, a gun going ‘click, click, click’ and the voice of Oscar Diaz-Hernandez,” Borges said in the police report, per the Orlando Sentinel.

Borges and Morais further claimed that the gunmen would torment them by playing Russian roulette with their son, although he was never physically hurt.

On the third day, Borges was separated from her son and her husband when she asked for water from the female kidnapper. After the woman brought Borges to the kitchen, the mother grabbed a knife and confronted the female kidnapper. As they wrestled, Borges pulled off the woman’s mask.

“She saw my face and knows who I am. You have to kill her!” the woman said, per the report obtained by The Palm Beach Post.

The kidnapper eventually forced Borges back to a room on the second floor, where the victim knew she had to act fast to save herself and her family.

“After I was beaten, I was left alone in my son’s bedroom, but I could hear the suspects talking in the next room,” Borges said in her statement to police. “I thought me and my family was going to be murdered, so I freed my hands, removed my blindfold and jumped out of the second story window.”

While Borges was escaping, she was shot and injured, but made it to a neighbor’s house, where she was able to call the police. The four gunmen fled the scene, and police were able to safely rescue the family and take them to the hospital. Although Morais and Borges were both injured, they fully recovered at a local hospital.

What happened to Marcela Borges’ abductors?

After Borges pulled down the mask of the female kidnapper, she was later able to identify her as Bianca Dos Santos. Investigators then allegedly learned that the attack was not random and claimed that Dos Santos gained information about the family’s financial background and personal information from her mom’s tax and financial services company, per the Orlando Sentinel.

Investigators believe that Dos Santos, who was 21 years old at the time, was the brains and ringleader behind the invasion. However, she was not immediately caught and appears to still be at large.

Police were able to identify and prosecute the three men who were involved: Oscar Diaz Hernandez (who was 19 at the time) and cousins Miguel Diaz Santiz (who was 25 at the time) and Victor Manuel Sanchez (who was 20 at the time).

Sanchez, who pleaded not guilty to felony charges of attempted murder, kidnapping and armed robbery, stood trial in February 2012, per The Palm Beach Post. Morais testified at the trial and said he was “absolutely sure” that Sanchez and the robbers would “kill me” during the invasion.

A jury convicted Sanchez, and he was later sentenced to life in prison. He is currently serving his life sentence at Okaloosa Correctional Institution in Florida, per the Florida Department of Corrections.

Meanwhile, his cousin Santiz agreed to a plea deal and pleaded no contest to the same charges and was also sentenced to life in prison, per WFTV9. He is serving his time at Everglades Correctional Institution in Florida, per the FDOC.

In May 2012, Borges shared a victim impact statement during the men’s sentencing and got emotional while speaking about her son’s trauma.

“He doesn’t feel secure to play outside,” she said, per WFTV9. “He doesn’t go outside. He stays most of his time inside the house. He cannot hear anybody speak Spanish because what he says is ‘bad guys.’ ”

The final arrested kidnapper, Hernandez, was set to stand trial in late 2012, but a few months before, he attempted suicide in the Orange County Jail, per the Orlando Sentinel. While he initially survived the attempt, doctors put him on life support.

In April 2013, Borges dropped the charges against him — which included allegedly shooting her — and allowed him to be returned to his family, per WFTV9.

Where is Marcela Borges and her family now?

Borges and Morais have continued navigating their lives after their traumatic 2009 incident. She went on to welcome their second son together, named Lucas, per her Facebook.

When Borges decided to drop the charges against Hernandez, she shared an update on then-2-year-old Lucas, calling him joyful and the family’s miracle baby, per the Orlando Sentinel.

She also went back to school and studied at Valencia College-Nursing School-West Campus and the University of Central Florida.

The family of four live a more private life in Florida and rarely share updates on social media or talk about the home invasion.

In January 2025, Borges and Morais’ story was adapted into the movie, Terror Comes Knocking: The Marcela Borges Story. The film, which stars Polanco as Borges, became available to stream on Netflix in September.